A pilgrim is a person who makes a journey,
which is often long and difficult, to a special place for religious
reasons.
A pioneer is one who ventures into an
unknown or unclaimed territory to settle. He goes before to remove
obstructions for the purpose of opening up or preparing the way for
others.
When pilgrims became pioneers, they might
also become the founding fathers of new nations.
Abraham was a pilgrim who became a pioneer.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called by God to go out to the
place which he would receive as an inheritance. He went out, not
knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the
land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. He was
waiting and looking for the city which has foundations, and whose
Builder and Maker is God (Hebrews 11:8-10).
Following the same example of their
forefather, Abraham, the Israelites also made a pilgrimage. The
Promised Land was pioneered by a people who were pilgrims. They were
ordinary people. They were also very poor slaves, tolling daily to
build treasure cities for the Pharaoh in Egypt. Through a deliverer
sent by God, they made a spiritual journey to meet their God in His
holy mountain. They also did not know where they were going and how
to get there. The Spirit of God was leading them all the way by day
and by night! Through many adventures and misadventures, many
victories and failures, they finally entered their own land forty
years later.
These Israelites were not ambitious people
desiring to conquer their enemies or winning the whole world. They
were afraid of giants in the land. They were just common people
seeking a place where they could find peace and rest to start life
anew for their families. Because the LORD was with them, they were
able to overcome their fears and enemies. They were also able to
reach their destination and enjoy freedom. In their pilgrimage, they
became pioneers of the nation of Israel! The spiritual laws, which
the LORD gave them, became the legal terms and conditions of living
in the Holy Land! They multiplied because they were fruitful, and
not because they were ambitious, full of drive and zeal! They were
fruitful because they obeyed the LORD!
By no coincidence, America is also a land
opened, settled and developed by pilgrims and pioneers. Some of the
pioneers of America were very poor pilgrims from England. They were
called the Pilgrims. These people were a group of Christians in
search of a home where they could freely practice their faith, and
live according to their Biblical beliefs and standards.
The Pilgrims were also known as the
Separatists or the Saints. They had separated from the Church of
England. The king of England was the only supreme head of the Church
of England. As a result of this, in England, those who did not
belong to the king’s Church were often put in jail. Therefore the
Separatists decided to break away from the Church of England. They
felt that the Church had not completed the task begun by the
Reformation that "the just shall live by faith." They felt there was
no need to have priests or bishops. They believed that ordinary
members of the church could speak directly to God.
Under the guidance of their leaders,
Reverends William Brewster and Richard Clifton, a group of them left
their homes in Scrooby. They sailed to Amsterdam to escape
persecutions by their own countrymen. They eventually moved to
Leiden in Holland where they lived for 12 years. Though they had
religious freedom, the Separatists became concerned that their
children were growing up to become more Dutch than English. In 1617,
being discouraged by economic difficulties, the pervasive Dutch
influence on their children, and their inability to secure civil
independence, the congregation voted to move on to cross the
Atlantic Ocean into the New World.
Fewer than half of the congregation in
Leiden chose to leave the Netherlands. They went aboard the
Speedwell and sailed to Southampton. In England, they were joined by
a larger group of Separatists. A total of 102 people boarded the
Mayflower, a small cargo ship, to cross the Atlantic Ocean. About
half on board were the Separatists. The rest of the passengers were
called "Strangers" by the Pilgrims. Among the Strangers were
merchants, craftsmen, skilled workers and indentured servants, and
several young orphans. All of them were common people.
The Pilgrims were the ones who organized
the voyage. William Brewster and some leaders of the Pilgrims had
secured the rights to settle on a piece of land claimed by the
Virginia Company near the mouth of the Hudson River. To raise funds
for the voyage, the Pilgrims signed a contract with a group of
stockholders in London. In return for their investment, these
stockholders would share in the profits of the planned colony. The
Pilgrims promised to ship furs, fish and lumber back to them in
England. To increase their chances of success for their new venture,
the Pilgrims included the Strangers in their journey.
Thirty two of the passengers were children
and youths. The departure date of the Mayflower was September 16,
1620. The journey was long. It took the ship 65 days to sail from
England to America. In those days, merchant ships were not built for
the comfort of their passengers. There were no passenger cabins.
They had to sleep in hammocks. Accommodation was bad. Personal
living spaces were limited to just barely enough room for each
person to lay down or sleep.
The cargo and food provisions were loaded
in England. There was no refrigeration or electricity. Whatever
little and fresh food they had brought for the journey were quickly
consumed. They had to eat hard bread and dried meat that were wet
and moldy. They also ate onions and lemon juice to keep themselves
from getting scurvy. Throughout most of the voyage, hunger haunted
them.
The ship was overcrowded, always wet and
smelly. It was grossly unsanitary. There was an unhealthy
accumulation of repeated vomitings, dysentery, sweat, mildew and
rotting waste. The lower decks were even worse. The stench was
almost unbearable.
There was no proper place to change or wash
clothes. The passengers suffered from many kinds of inflictions and
afflictions due to ill-preserved food and provisions, constipation,
headaches, lice, impure water, seasickness and emotional fatigue. On
the top of all these, the weather conditions were merciless. Cold
temperatures, storms and intense heat were constantly battering at
them throughout the whole raging journey!
Death was a steadfast companion. Two of the
passengers died on the voyage across the Atlantic. But two babies
were birthed aboard the ship.
Burial at sea was a difficult and trying
experience. The bereaved family members did not have enough time to
grieve and mourn. The bodies of the deceased must be cast overboard
almost immediately after the time of their death to prevent the
spread of disease and foul odour. Family members often reproached
each other for making the journey. Wives reproached their husbands
for children that were lost. Husbands lamented heartbreakingly for
endangering the lives of their own families by boarding the ship.
Children complained against their own parents for their state of
helplessness. The level of despair and misery was unbelievable. The
sea did not allow the family members to return to the exact burial
locations for memorials and remembrances. Another traumatic reality
was that the bodies would be eaten by some fishes and sea creatures.
The 3,000-mile voyage across the Atlantic
lasted more than two months. The Mayflower was blown off course by
storms. They finally sighted land on November 19, 1620. But the ship
was at Cape Cod, far north of their destination. Therefore, the
captain turned the Mayflower southwards. But the rough seas forced
him to turn back. The Mayflower eventually dropped anchor at the tip
of Cape Cod. To avoid risking more days at sea, the Pilgrims decided
to land at Provincetown on November 21, 1620.
Almost immediately upon arrival, an
argument broke out. Several of the Strangers were discontented and
rebellious. They apparently argued that, since the Cape Cod area was
outside the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company, its original rules
and regulations no longer applied. These troublemakers threatened to
do whatever they pleased as there was none who had the power to
command them. Three thousand miles from home, a real crisis hit the
Pilgrims even before they stepped ashore.
The Pilgrim leaders realized that they
needed to set up a temporary form of government and authority. Back
home, such authority could only come from the king of England. Being
isolated in America, they had to decide for themselves. Still aboard
the Mayflower, by the demand of necessity, the Pilgrims and
Strangers made a written agreement or compact among themselves.
The Mayflower Compact was probably composed by William Brewster, who
had a university education. It was duly signed by 41 men, including
two of the indentured servants. The format of the Mayflower Compact
was very similar to the written agreements used by the Pilgrims to
establish their Separatist churches in England and Holland. Under
these agreements, the male adult members of each church established
how they were to worship God, how they were to elect their own
ministers and other church officers etc..
This pattern of self-government in the
church served as a model for self-government in the colony. It
eventually became the very foundation of establishing law and order
in America. Born out of necessity on the Mayflower, the Compact made
a significant contribution to the creation of a new democratic
nation.
These early colonists had no intention of declaring their
independence from England when they signed the Mayflower Compact. In
the opening line of the Compact, both the Pilgrims and Strangers
declared themselves accordingly as the loyal subjects of King James.
The agreement was simple and short, binding the signers to become a
civil body of people, enjoying just and equal laws for the general
good of the colony.
On December 21, 1620, the Pilgrims began a
new colony, which is known today as the Town of Plymouth in
Massachusetts. This day also marks the Forefathers' Day in America.
Their first winter was very hard. The
weather was extremely cold. There was not enough food. As a result
of poor nutrition, harsh conditions and inadequate housing, about
half of the settlers died in the new land that bitter winter.
Help arrived in the spring. An Indian named
Samoset walked into their little colony and said, "Welcome,
Englishmen." Samoset was a member of the Wampanoag tribe. He had
learned some English from sailors who had come to fish along the
Cape Cod coast.
Several days later, Samoset brought another
Indian, Squanto, to meet the Pilgrims. Squanto could speak better
English than Samoset. Years earlier, Squanto had been kidnapped by a
group of European fishermen. He was sold as a slave in Spain. But he
managed to escape to England where he learned the English language.
Several years later, he returned to his Wampanoag tribe in Cape Cod.
Squanto lived with the Pilgrims and became
their interpreter. He showed them how to survive in the new climate
by employing the native Indian ways and methods. He showed them
where to fish. He also taught them how to use the fishes and their
bones as fertilizers for planting corn, pumpkins and beans. Through
him, the Pilgrims established friendly relations with the local
Wampanoag tribe.
In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims had their
first harvest. William Bradford was then the Governor of the Colony.
He decided that the Colony should have a celebration to mark their
first harvest. The Pilgrims invited the Wampanoag Indians to their
first Thanksgiving. The celebration lasted three days. They feasted
on turkeys, venison, fish, ducks, clams, shellfish, oysters,
lobsters, corn puddings, pumpkins, dried berries and other local
edibles. Nine women prepared the three-day feast for 140 hungry
people.
Today, 35 million Americans are direct
descendants of the first Mayflower Pilgrims. That's about 12% of the
total population of the whole nation of America. These Pilgrims had
given birth to many pioneers who cut through the forests and rocky
mountains to build highways and railroads, the runways for
airplanes, the towering skyscrapers, and also the rockets into
space.
These all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that
they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind
that country from which they had come out, they would have had
opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a
heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called
their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews
11:13-16)
God still uses ordinary people to achieve
His extraordinary purposes. This is the time for us, pilgrims and
strangers, to make our pilgrimages in seeking Him, His kingdom and
His righteousness. The key to the greatest revival of all times and
the greatest harvest of souls is through the Way, the Truth and the
Life.